Thanks for the replies, was a bit crabby last night and it showed.

Wasn't thinking well, I seriously doubt if I would have patched it, mechanical dumbness usually dawns on me before it has a chance to do any damage.
Have patched fuel lines before, even tranny lines, which is also a no no.
Brake lines, true not a good idea, unless stuck in the desert with a length of hose the only option.
Hell, we'd **** in the master cylinder if we had do - Guys in shot up bombers in WW2 did exactly that, to get some fluid in the hydraulic lines.

Anyways, lets be thankful it hasn't come to that yet for me.
Had a half a day of work, and am about to go out and see what I can do with this thing.
I have multiple tube benders and a flaring kit, can't say I'm very proficient with them though.
I have the feeling that I am about to find out what it takes to properly bend a tube.

 

For a quick fix you can cut the line at the break and put a compression fitting in. Is that the correct way to fix it? No. In fact it will not pass inspection in most states if repaired that way. But that is a temp. fix. I would just get a roll of brake line and replace it all the way. If you had one spot fail more than likely there will be more failures in the near future.

 

Not so much. It seems to be most prevalent with the line that goes behind the gas tank. It probably holds accumulated crap in that area until it rots away the lines. It's amazing all that snow and salt doesn't rot out the side of the frame or bed. That's one of the beauties of living in the west. Since so many guys here complain about that line roting out I decided to check mine out. Spotless, no worries for me thank goodness.

 

Update: Didn't feel like going to the auto parts store and wasting hard earned $$, but I found the perfect thing rummaging around in my garage !
I found a spool of fish aquarium tubing, perfect diameter ! ,,, All I did was take some scissors & duct tape, and ,,,,

Ahem ,,, Ok, I got the thing out. Very, very corroded, hard to see how it held out this long.
As Ram1500 says, the worst of the worse was the section behind the gas tank, just flaked off in my hands.
Front fitting I got out without problems, back one the line disintegrated when I tried to turn it, so I had to take that metal piece its attached to on the frame off, and break out the vice grips, and it surrendered without further battle.
Got hung up installing a remote passenger side mirror in my sisters car that I've been putting off for weeks, so didn't put on the new pieces yet, but I got them, and the connectors, waiting for me in the morning.

I'm debating if I'm gonna try to follow the original bend for bend, or use an approach like charlie in post #6.
Either way shouldn't be much of a problem, the only bends close to tricky are the one coming right off the junction box on the front, then the one at the end.

I found a plugged up length of pressure hose coming off the junction feed in the rear, looks factory plugged.
Anyone know what thats for ?

 

i was 17 when i replaced the brake lines on my t bird (with no help) and i had never done anything like that before. brake lines are pretty simple as long as you have a good fitting on each end.
when i got the car i had to cut down a couple pennies and use them to plug off the rear brake lines at the master cylinder just so i could drive it home. thats why when i have kids they aren't going to get a brand new honda like so many on the road today. i had to fix my first car before i could even drive it home and i ended up putting a lot of work into it over the years so that gave me a good deal of experience with auto repair and it made me appreciate it even more.

one thing you could do with your brake lines to prevent a future failure is to encase them in a rubber hose to keep the road salt off of them. either that or you can paint or undercoat spray them.

 

Yeah I thought about at least placing them in some conduit or plastic loom.
This repair should for all intents and purposes, outlast my truck.
I may end up eating those words, but shes 13 years and ready to kick 200,000, I don't see many more years coming for old Blue Angel, certainly not a decade +.

I was always curious about what made stuff tick, I used to take apart old phones and put them back together starting when I was 7.
I'd take about any damn thing apart, still will.
I mod my guitars, amps, hot rods, electronics, just about anything.

My son, approaching his teens, I doubt if he even knows how to operate a screw driver, just the opposite of me, but its hard to force a kid to do something they don't want to do.
If the interest isn't there, it will never happen.
Hopefully when he learns he can save alot of his own cash fixing things himself, or make a living out of it, he'll change his ways.
Until then, unless there are openings testing out video games, hes going to be SOL when its time for me to boot his *** out the door.

 

That plugged up length of pressure hose you referenced at the rear axle is actually you axle vent. that thing that looks like a plug is actually "supposed" to be a sort of check valve to allow air out and not allow water/contaminants in.

 

my situation was "you want to drive it you had better fix it." my dad only gave 500$ for that car and about 200$ for a parts car a year or so later.

 

Got it in without a hitch, things were going so good that I was waiting for something to go wrong, never did.

Don't know if its just me or those cheap a$$ harbor freight benders, but I couldn't get those benders to bend, so I ended up doing it all by hand, although I did use the grooved wheel from one of my benders as a fulcrum point.
There was only 1 tricky bend, the 1st one where it plugs into the front and wraps around the frame rail, kinda like a 3 sided box. I just took my time, and pretty much replicated the original.

I decided that, instead of making a complete setup with 3 tubes put together, then wiggling it in there so I could mark off exactly where to cut and flare it, then take it back out, cut and flare, and pray that I got it right ... I just installed the front tube, installed the back tube, which cleared the gas tank by about 2 inches ,,, That left me a gap of about 15 inches, so I cut that section - And I finally have something good to say about harbor freight !
The flaring kit, which I got for like $5 about 3 years ago and never used, finally saw some use, and it worked flawlessly ! I was waiting for it to fly apart when I tightened it up, but it held firm and produced a great flare.

So I put the middle section on, had my daughter help me bleed the back cylinders ,,, Brakes feel great, no leaks, so I'm hoping it will stay that way.
Heres a few pics.

Pretty much just followed the bends of the gas line after the 1st couple feet of tubing, which is routed the same way.
Gas line, though encrusted with surface rust, is still integral, and doesn't appear to be ready to malfunction any time soon.



The center section, joined by connectors.
I really think trying to cut it at the end would have been a PITA, and I still would have had to use the 2 connectors anyhow - And yup, thats ciggy smoke, bad for the health I know - Especially under a truck, 2 ft away from a half full gas tank.



A look from the rear, showing new tube on its way to the front - Also shows that capped off tube that SD says is an axle vent.
This last run of tubing required no bends, except for a slight angle at the very end to mate it with the receiver, which is cocked at a small angle towards the frame rail.
Rather than try to finesse it in with the slight bend it required to properly seat, I just unbolted the receiver and put the line in straight as an arrow, then gave it a little bend with my thumb required to bolt the receiver back in.
These lines are pretty easy to manipulate if you use slow, steady pressure.
Bottom of frame rail still coated with the brake fluid that busted out of the old line, probably dumped nearly a full master cylinders worth.



Rotted out section of the old one - I'm impressed that it lasted for 13 years.

 

That wasn't that hard now was it? Don't mean to knock your work or anything, but by the look of it, I would have replaced the gas line at the same time. Looks like that one is in dire straits also.